Method of making toy building blocks



194% N. 1. PAULSON ,295,

V METHOD OF MAKING TOY BUILDING BLOCKS,

Original Filed June 6, i939 IIIHIIH 1,

; IN TOR BY 3 V ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 15, 1942 METHOD OF MAKING TOY BUILDING BLOCKS Nils I. Paulson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Halsam Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original application June 6, 1939, Serial No.

277,663. Divided and this application November 9, 1939, Serial No. 303,654

2 Claims.

. My invention relates to an improved method of making toy building members preferably of full size and of half size each being in the form of rectangular parallelepipedons.

This application is a division of my parent application Serial No. 277,663, filed June 6, 1939, now issued as Patent No..2,262,199, Nov. 11, 1941.

In the set of building members described and claimed in my said parent application each member is provided .on one face with a plurality of dowels and in its opposite face with a plurality of sockets in register with the dowels, the-dowels of one member fitting into the sockets or certain sockets of another member to secure the members in the desired face to face relation. Members embodying the principles of my invention are preferably made of woodsuch as hard .maple.

One of the objects .of my invention is to provide an improved method of making such build ing members by which the members may be produced accurately, inexpensively and rapidly.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved method of making such building members according to which a plurality of rod-like portions of the body will be partially displaced relative to the remaining portion of the body in the direction of the grain of the wood and thereby provide dowels on one face and registering sockets in the opposite face which will be within very close limits, accurate in size and in location, whereby the dowels of one member may be readily inserted into or withdrawn from the sockets of an adjacent member.

Other objects of my invention willappear from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating .certain preferred embodiments of my improved building members and apparatus suitable for carrying out my improved method.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like characters of reference designate like parts Fig. 1 is a plan view of an enlarged scale of one of my improved full size building members;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a half size building member on the same scale;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmental sectional view of die means suitable for practicing my invention. The lower portion of the die has an opening which receives a blank to be formed, and a die or upper member enters into the opening for acting on the blank. The enterable or upper die member is shown on a larger scale than the balance of the figure, to illustrate certain details of the construction. This member enters the space within the lower member in use.

Fig. 5 is a view similar -to Fig. 4 showing the die members in their closed position with one of my improved finished building members in position therebetween.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 3. the full size member A is in the form of a rectangular parallelepipedon, its opposite sides being grooved at I 2 to simulate mortar joints between the long sides of three ordinary bricks while the ends are grooved at E3 to simulate a mortar joint between the long side of one brick and the end of another brick, the end grooves !3 being opposite each other. Edge grooves l of half size extend around the member at its top and bottom faces so that mortar joints will appear at the meeting faces of coengaging members. The full size member A is provided on one face with aplurality of dowels l5, there being two parallel rows of such dowels with four dowels in each row. The dowels are spaced equally in each row and the two rows are spaced the same distance apart. In its opposite face the full size member is provided with the same number .of sockets it as dowels, the respective sockets being in register with the dowels. On each face of the member rectangular recesses H are arranged as shown, said recesses being adapted to receive the tongues of door or window-like closures (not shown) when the building members are placed in a wall with openings for such closures.

The half size member B shown in Fig. 2 is provided with grooves I8 in its sides opposite each other and with grooves l 9 in its ends which are opposite to each other, each side and each end therefore simulating the long side of one ordinary brick and the end of another ordinary brick with a mortar joint between. On one face the half size member is provided with a plurality of dowels I5 arranged and spaced in the same manner as the dowels of the full size member. Like the full size member, the opposite face of the half size member is provided with four sockets in register with the dowels, edge grooves l4 also extend around the member at its top and bottom faces, and recesses I! are provided in each face of the member.

As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the base portions 15a of the dowels are of substantially the same size in cross section as the socket It, the side walls of the sockets are parallel, the tip portions I51) of the dowels are tapered and the length of the dowels is substantially less than the depth of the sockets. The arrangement is such, therefore, that the dowels of one member will readily enter the selected sockets of another member, but when the members are pressed closely together the base portions Ilia of the dowels fit snugly in the sockets engaged thereby and firmly secure together the cooperating members. However, once the two cooperating members are separated a distance equal to the height of the base portions la the members readily fall apart.

In accordance with my improved method, the building members are made of wood, such as hard maple, and the dowels and sockets are formed by a partial displacement of rod-like bundles of fibers in the direction of the grain of the wood relative to the main body of the member. The formation of the dowels and the sockets in that manner is readily carried out by the insertion of wood blanks C within a sleeve 26 and between cooperative die members 2! and 22 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The die member 2!, moves into and out of the dieopening which receives a blank C and is provided with recesses 23 corre sponding in size and shape to the dowels l5, each recess having a straight side wall portion 23a,

a tapered side wall portion 23b and a bottom 230. The die member 22 is provided with stationary punches 24 in alignment or register with the recesses 23 of the die member 2|, the punches corresponding in size and shape to the sockets IS. The blank C is cut and placed within the sleeve 20 and between the die members 21 and 22 so that the grain of the wood runs in the same direction as the axes of the punches 24. When the die member 2| descends to the position shown in Fig. 5, the die member 22 being at such l time stationary, the blank C is forced downwardly and simultaneously the punches 24 sink into the bottom end face of the blank and partially displace, relative to the body of the blank, rod-like bundles of fibers as outlined in Fig. by the dotted lines 25. The punches 24 are of the same cross-sectional size as the straight side portions 23a of the recesses 23. The depth of the recesses 23 is substantially less than the projecting ends of the punches 24. The rod-like bundles of fibers, therefore, are compressed axially and the upper ends of the bundles of fibers are substantially compressed transversely due to the tapered side walls of the recesses 23. The rod-like bundle ofvfibers, that is to say, the partially bunched out portion is severed from the fibers of the surrounding portion of the body of the block and the punched portion is resituated in the body of the block. Since the bottom of the socket 23 forms a positive stop bearing on the end of the punched portion and the sides of the socket prevent any transverse spreading outwardly of the fibers in the projecting end of the punched portion, axial compression of the fibers of the punched portion not only produces a dowel of a length less than the depth of the socket in the opposite side of the block but the fibers of that part of the punched portion within the body of the block are spread outwardly and therefore securely anchor the punched portion in the body of the block. Each die member is provided with short rectangular punches 26 whereby the rectangular recesses I! in the opposite faces of the building members are formed simultaneously with the formation of the dowels l5 and sockets IS. The die members are also formed so that the half grooves 14 at the edge of the building members are simultaneously formed. In releasing the building member, the die member 2| first moves upwardly away from the building member, the die member 22 then moves upwardly thereby stripping the building member from the fixed punches 24 and moving it upwardly to a position where the completed building member, with the dowels I5 projecting from its upper face and registering sockets l6 formed in its lower face, may be readily removed from the sleeve 20.

By the method described, the building members are exactly and uniformly produced, the dowels and sockets thereof being exactly spaced, thusinsuring a perfect fit of the dowels of one member into the sockets of another member. The portions of the blocks partially punched out and resituated with respect to the blocks are securely anchored in the blocks, and do not become loose or drop out under changing atmospheric conditions. It will be understood, of course, that one set of dies will be used for the full size members and another set for the half size members. By means of the improved method herein disclosed, building members constructed as described may be readily produced at low cost.

While I prefer to carry out my method as herein described in detail and to employ in connection therewith apparatus as herein described, I Wish it to be understood that my invention is not limited thereto except only in so far as certain of the appended claims are so limited as changes in the method of making the building members may be made without departing from the principles of my invention.

I claim:

1. In the herein described method of making a wooden toy building block having a dowel projecting from one block surface and a socket entering from the opposite block surface comprising the steps of partially dislodging a bundle of fibers in the direction of the grain of the wood and moving said bundle a distance less than the length of the bundle to form a dowel projecting from one surface of the block, applying end pressure to said dislodged bundle to increase the frictional holding engagement between the unprojected portion of said bundle and the wall portion of the bundle space created by such dislodgment, and utilizing such frictional holding engagement as the sole means for permanently preventing further dislodgment of said bundle with respect to said block.

2. In the herein described method of making a wooden toy building block having a dowel. projecting from one block surface and a socket entering from the opposite block surface comprising the steps of partially dislodging a bundle of fibers in the direction of the grain of the wood and moving said bundle a distance less than the length of the bundle to form a dowel projecting from one surface of the block, applying endwise pressure to said dislodged bundle to increase the holding engagement of the unprojected portion of the bundle with the wall of the bundle space created by such dislodgment to thereby permanently secure said bundle in place, and preventing spread of the projected part of said bundle during the application of said endwise pressure.

NILS I. PAULSON. 

